Marc Jones seems like a good dude. I hope he continues to lead Homeland to new heights.
Marc Jones seems like a good dude. I hope he continues to lead Homeland to new heights.
I was in there Tuesday night and was really impressed. I've known Cindy who works behind the deli counter for years going back to her days at The Boulevard Cafeteria. She was just raving about the remodel. This has been a great morale booster for the employees as well. She also told us to be on the lookout for the News 4 piece. Thanks for posting that.
The working conditions there were horrible.
The old entrance opened right on the checkout lanes and very near the deli. In the winters it was terribly cold and miserable. The doors didn't even work correctly.
And of course the entire place was dirty-looking and lousy. I used the restroom there once (way back in the stock area) and it was scary back there.
I'm really impressed with what they've done at this location. Far above and beyond what I expected.
That post is a year old BTW
^^^^^^^
Hahaha
Was it an Albertson's before? I thought the Skagg's/Alpha Beta/Osco/Jewel/Albertson's/Whatever was actually on the NW corner of May/Britton, not where the current Homeland is. But I could be wrong, I was away from OKC for a dozen years and it might've moved during that time, then gone under...
Anybody have any idea when Western Ave northbound between 18th and 23rd is supposed to re-open? It's been closed for weeks now.
Yes, it was an Albertson's but I believe you are correct, the original Albertson's was on the NW corner. They closed it and reopened across the street. Somebody please back me up so I don't think I'm senile but I do vaguely remember that it was on the NW corner and then they moved.
C. T.
Yeah, there was no way I'd forget eating the Texas donuts (as big as a baby's head!) there at the original location on Sundays before church, many moons ago...
Jim, I can't remember if that was the reason or not, but the tax rate in The Village was actually lower than OKC until just before the announcement. The Village had just raised their rate to compensate for losing Wal-Mart to OKC, however, this article makes it sound like Albertsons was just looking to update their location at the time and had worked with The Village to try to find a viable location before moving across Britton: https://newsok.com/article/2745915/a...to-tax-revenue
This article also makes it sound like it was mostly driven by a desire for a new building: https://newsok.com/article/1909179/a...of-the-village
This one shows how devastating these relocation were to tax collections in The Village (even after a tax hike): https://newsok.com/article/2857452/t...take-nose-dive
All of this underscores why the incentive game is played in OKC and pretty much everywhere else these days. The dependence that our municipalities have on sales tax collections (based on state laws) creates a situation where neighboring cities become predatory and feel they have to cough up cash to keep tax revenue streams within their boundaries.
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Haha read it however you want to, C.T.!
As I said, I was too lazy to research the reasons for the move. Probably part of my reply was driven by memories of the perambulating Walmart on NW Highway, which went from its Rockwell location now occupied by Hobby Lobby, to the MacArthur location that's now a pizza parlor, to the present location between Rockwell and Council -- playing the incentive game like the traditional renters who move each time the rent comes due, despite the expense of moving such a large establishment.
My wife and I were just in the Classen homeland and were very impressed. It felt like every aisle she found something she usually buys somewhere else that she can now get here. We used to make special trips to Trader Joes, Target, and Sprouts when we live very close to this homeland. We used to only stop in here if we needed something quick and were relatively sure homeland would have it. Now she wants to start doing our regular grocery shopping here. Homeland has done a complete 180 with this place
Observation: Homeland models one long-neglected store, still neglecting (if not outright abandoning) others, and gets heaps of praise plus free publicity in the paper and the news.
7-Eleven, however, builds several new stores, aiming to make them as bright and clean as their old ones haven't been for years, and barely anyone notices.
I wonder if the expansion of OnCue, and the introduction of other service-oriented convenience stores, have gotten it to the point that there's really nothing 7-Eleven could do at this point to improve their image. I also wonder if the introduction of grocery store competition might have the same effect on Homeland.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking this remodel in any way. You won't find a single person who won't agree this should have been done long ago. I'm just wondering exactly where we are in the timeline of things. If 7-Eleven has crossed the point of no return, how close is Homeland to that point? The service at the Cornwell location used to be great, but it's taken a nosedive. To the point where a couple months ago I said screw this, I'll go to the one at I-40 and Reno, only to rediscover why I stopped going there in the first place. It's been months since I've been at Cornwell and DIDN'T have something ring up wrong. You have to watch the screen like a hawk. This morning around 10am all the BOGO offers were not ringing up correctly, with the excuse that every Sunday at 9am this happens until someone gets around to rebooting the computer. That's ridiculous! Mustang doesn't even warrant a Homeland, apparently, it got rebranded to a Cashsaver. Homeland prices, plus 10%, what a deal!
What I'm saying is this remodel is a "great start", not "mission accomplished", and Homeland better see it the same way...or else they can ask 7-Eleven how that worked out for them.
^
Homeland already had a very nice store at May & Britton and pretty much everything else was inherited.
And, they have a new CEO who in his first year launched this extensive remodel and not due to some big new competitors who was kicking their tails.
7/11 built every single one of their horrendous stores. And there are more than 100 in Central Oklahoma.
On a more personal level, the Homeland people have always promptly returned my calls and have been very helpful. No one from 7 Eleven has ever returned any of my calls, and I've made a bunch.
What other neglected Homelands are left in the metro? All of the nasty ones that I can think of that were open when I moved back here in 2012 have closed. Even some of the better stores that were converted from Albertson's have closed. Right now the chain seems to be down to a few stores and is trying to do the best they can with what they have. What will be interesting is to see how the new liquor laws affect Homeland. It might make them profitable enough that they go back into expansion mode. If I was CEO of Homeland, I would really be thinking about how to offer a superior beer/wine section than what Wal-Mart will be able to offer.
I think we are comparing apples and oranges with grocery stores and gas stations. Most people have a regular grocery store they go to at predictable intervals. However, most people will just get gas at whatever station is close and whenever they need it. People see a new or remodeled grocery store in their neighborhood and begin to use that one as their primary; whereas a person will get gas anywhere along their commute or when they are just driving around town. I certainly have preferences to which gas stations I use, but I don't treat them the same as a grocer.
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